Dubai plans to lead the fight against blood diamonds when it takes over the chair of the Kimberley Process certification scheme next year.
The UAE was announced yesterday as the first Arab country to chair the high-profile scheme, which was set up 12 years ago by the United Nations General Assembly in an attempt to stamp out the trade in diamonds that are mined in war zones and sold to fund insurgencies in Africa.
Kimberley Process members voted for Dubai to take over from the current chair Angola in 2016, according to a joint statement from the UAE Ministry of Economy and the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC).
The appointment means that the UAE will become the 14th country to take on the annual role since the body’s foundation in 2003.
It will implement its programme, running working groups and committees, and tackling general administration.
DMCC is the only entry and exit point for rough diamonds in the country and already administers the certification scheme in the UAE.
“[We plan] to work together on the growth and reach of the Kimberley Process while consolidating the achievements of the past 12 years – bringing to an end the flow of conflict diamonds globally,” said Ahmed bin Sulayem, the executive chairman of DMCC.
There are currently 54 Kimberley Process certification scheme participants, representing 81 countries. The project has been partly credited with reducing the trade of blood diamonds from an estimated 3 to 5 per cent of annual world production in the year 2000 to less than 1 per cent today.
However, the effectiveness of the programme has been called into question by organisations such as the charity Global Witness, which pulled out of the scheme in 2011.
Dubai’s chairmanship of the scheme comes on the back of the emirate’s growing status as a trading centre for the world’s US$57 billion diamond market.
Historically a centre for pearl trading, back in 2001 the emirate traded less than $5 million of rough and polished stones. However, over the past decade that has snowballed as Dubai capitalises on good transport links with India, to be worth about $40bn.
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COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
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Dir: Shane Black
Starring: Olivia Munn, Boyd Holbrook, Keegan-Michael Key
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
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Flydubai flies direct from Dubai to Tbilisi from Dh1,025 return including taxes
SERIE A FIXTURES
Saturday Spezia v Lazio (6pm), Juventus v Torino (9pm), Inter Milan v Bologna (7.45pm)
Sunday Verona v Cagliari (3.30pm), Parma v Benevento, AS Roma v Sassuolo, Udinese v Atalanta (all 6pm), Crotone v Napoli (9pm), Sampdoria v AC Milan (11.45pm)
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Director: M Night Shyamalan
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6.30pm: Emirates Holidays Maiden (TB), Dh82,500 (Dirt), 1,900m
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Other ways to buy used products in the UAE
UAE insurance firm Al Wathba National Insurance Company (AWNIC) last year launched an e-commerce website with a facility enabling users to buy car wrecks.
Bidders and potential buyers register on the online salvage car auction portal to view vehicles, review condition reports, or arrange physical surveys, and then start bidding for motors they plan to restore or harvest for parts.
Physical salvage car auctions are a common method for insurers around the world to move on heavily damaged vehicles, but AWNIC is one of the few UAE insurers to offer such services online.
For cars and less sizeable items such as bicycles and furniture, Dubizzle is arguably the best-known marketplace for pre-loved.
Founded in 2005, in recent years it has been joined by a plethora of Facebook community pages for shifting used goods, including Abu Dhabi Marketplace, Flea Market UAE and Arabian Ranches Souq Market while sites such as The Luxury Closet and Riot deal largely in second-hand fashion.
At the high-end of the pre-used spectrum, resellers such as Timepiece360.ae, WatchBox Middle East and Watches Market Dubai deal in authenticated second-hand luxury timepieces from brands such as Rolex, Hublot and Tag Heuer, with a warranty.
heading
Iran has sent five planeloads of food to Qatar, which is suffering shortages amid a regional blockade.
A number of nations, including Iran's major rival Saudi Arabia, last week cut ties with Qatar, accusing it of funding terrorism, charges it denies.
The land border with Saudi Arabia, through which 40% of Qatar's food comes, has been closed.
Meanwhile, mediators Kuwait said that Qatar was ready to listen to the "qualms" of its neighbours.
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